The Official Forum of the Ameraucana Breeders Club > Housing, Health & Hatching
can anyone give me some tips?
Beth C:
--- Quote from: faith valley ---It is easy to half or quarter a waffer that is still in the little bottle by using a tooth pick. You can slice the waffer in half with teh tooth pick, then stab the waffer quarter or half with the tooth pick and pull it out of the bottle.
--- End quote ---
Ditto, except I use a needle.
--- Quote ---Victor\'s comment was that even if you only vaccinate 50 chicks with a unit (1,000 dose bottle) it only runs about 40 some cents per chick.
--- End quote ---
But when you\'re doing a dozen, it ends up being 1/3 the value of the chick. :stare:
Mike Gilbert:
All I can say is that what I have been doing for the last 15 years is working for me. Marek\'s was introduced here by a purchased bird in the early 1990\'s. I didn\'t know what was going on until I lost the buff Ameraucana bantam pullet that won best AOCCL at the 1996 APA national meet held in Minnesota the following December, along with her best pullet sibling. With that heartbreaking loss I realized what the problem had to be since they were very healthy in every other respect. Since starting the vaccination program losses have been very minimal. I quarter the wafer, drop 1/4 in an empty diluent bottle, pour in 1/4 of a bottle of chilled diluent, cap it, shake it up, pour it into a clean shot glass, draw a couple of syringes, shoot them down the drain, and commence vaccinating. Air bubbles are not a problem. If I get one, I simply discharge the dose back into the shot glass and draw a different one. I also give a little more than the recommended dose since I always end up with extra to throw away anyway. It works. Most of the time I am only vaccinating from 20 to 50 chicks, so there is no way I\'m spending the extra money to use up a whole wafer each time.
Beth C:
--- Quote ---Most of the time I am only vaccinating from 20 to 50 chicks, so there is no way I\'m spending the extra money to use up a whole wafer each time.
--- End quote ---
Exactly. Plus, I grew up in a house full of people who lived through the depression - even if I could afford it, it\'s just not in my nature to waste 90% of something. (Although I admit with a $5 vaccine I\'m less inclined to try to stretch it.)
It would benefit everyone if the manufacturers would package 250 or even 500 dose vials. They aren\'t making any more money selling the big vials, since most people break them down anyway, and I think more people would vaccinate if they sold it in smaller & more economical doses.
Along the lines of vaccines, I have a question. I have been told by my NPIP testers (who even called while they were here and verified it with their supervisor) that it is illegal to use the MG vaccine in NC, and that no state has approved it\'s use, although Jeffers will sell it and ship it to me. They also told me that there are other vaccines that are only approved for large commercial operations and can be authorized for hobbyists only when they are in high risk areas. These rules are due to NC\'s massive poultry industry & fears of a live vaccine mutating and causing an outbreak. It is a bit unsettling, since I could have bought & used this vaccine w/o ever knowing I was breaking the law if I hadn\'t mentioned it while the tester was here (would seem that they would publicize this law a bit better). He also told me that vaccinated birds would show a false positive if tested for MG, resulting in quarantine of the premises. Just wondering if anyone else has encountered this in their state and what they have been told.
Jean:
Beth,
That is probably the law for your State on live MG vaccine. The Fort Dodge brand MG BAC, is not a live, it is a bacterin.
That is why the sell it and ship to your state.
Beth C:
Fort Dodge MG Bac is the one I ask him about, even showed him the page in the catalog to clarify. It doesn\'t make any sense to me, but he was adamant that NO MG vaccine was allowed in NC, no way, no how.
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